Cecil Howard Lay
Encyclopedia
Cecil Howard Lay was an English
poet
of the Georgian school, architect
and artist
, closely associated with his native Suffolk
.
, near Leiston
, Suffolk
, the son of the village schoolmaster (from a seafaring family) and his mother of agricultural family origins. His father was competent at drawing. Discouraged from mixing socially with the children of the village school, and given a private tutor, Cecil was next sent to the Ipswich School
where he was a weekly boarder. He wished to become an artist, but was trained (at first in Ipswich) as an architect, being elected as an associate of Royal Institute of British Architects
in 1912. He then travelled in Belgium
and Holland for a while, studying painting, and became a close friend of Frank Brangwyn
, and also corresponded with Ezra Pound
.
After service during the Great War he returned to Suffolk and seldom left it again. As an architect, he designed a series of innovative buildings, mainly large private dwellings, incorporating motifs from traditional Suffolk architecture in ways which were modern for their time. Most of these buildings are in the neighbourhood of Aldringham or Aldeburgh, including the house called Raidsend at Aldringham (an early work), a hall of late Art Nouveau
style, with 'elongated Dutch gables, tall narrow windows and subtle pargetting'. He was elected Fellow of the R.I.B.A. in 1925.
Cecil Lay died in 1956 and was buried near his parents in Aldringham churchyard.
, but during the 1920s and 1930s he developed a distinctively deco manner, producing a considerable series of oils depicting family groups or pairs of characteristic Suffolk vernacular types in a pseudo-naive style and in vibrant colour. In his watercolours, landscapes are populated in less formal, more relaxed ways.
Lay's volumes of poems appeared mainly between 1927 and 1934. They are mainly collections of short lyrics in new Elizabethan manner, sometimes erotic, and, although rural and showing a countryman's sensibilities, without sentimentalism or any strong note of nostalgia. Cecil Lay married Joan Chadburn, daughter of the painter Haworth Chadburn, in 1932. 'His origins, training and experience seem as if designed to produce that complex of rootedness and spiritual uprootedness that so often gives the artist's special oblique angle of view.' National Press opinions of his early verse comment on his Elizabethan frankness, simplicity, admirable lyrical impulse combined with tigerish intensity and focus, wit, beauty and blunt realism. His romantic sensibility was blended or moderated with classic restraint.
He was a friend of the Sieveking family and, although a project (by Martin Secker
) to publish his collected poems had foundered in 1937, the broadcaster Lance Sieveking
in 1962 published a Collected Poems of Cecil Lay with his own Introduction, and an extended quotation from an earlier Introduction intended for the original Secker volume of 1937, written by A. E. Coppard
. Not only Coppard, but also Middleton Murry, Desmond MacCarthy
and W. H. Davies
had been attracted to Lay's poetry, and Lance Sieveking emphasised the ways in which the poems resembled those of W. H. Davies.
, and discovered that it performed what was believed to be a ceremonial dance shortly after emerging from hibernation, following a set pattern of convoluted progress at considerable speed. He also observed that the animal preferred to eat a variety of different vegetation in rotation as the seasons passed, rather than adhering to a single preferred foodplant. These observations received scholarly attention.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of the Georgian school, architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, closely associated with his native Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
Life
Lay was born in the village of AldringhamAldringham
Aldringham is a village in Suffolk, England. The village is located 1 mile south of Leiston and 3 miles northwest of Aldeburgh close to the North Sea coast. The parish includes the coastal village of Thorpeness. The mid-2005 population estimate for Aldringham cum Thorpe parish was...
, near Leiston
Leiston
Leiston is a town in eastern Suffolk, England. It is situated near Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, about from the North Sea coast and is northeast of Ipswich and northeast from London...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, the son of the village schoolmaster (from a seafaring family) and his mother of agricultural family origins. His father was competent at drawing. Discouraged from mixing socially with the children of the village school, and given a private tutor, Cecil was next sent to the Ipswich School
Ipswich School
Ipswich School is a co-educational public school for girls and boys aged 3 to 18. Situated in Suffolk, England in the town of Ipswich, it was founded in its current form as The King's School, Ipswich by Thomas Wolsey in 1528....
where he was a weekly boarder. He wished to become an artist, but was trained (at first in Ipswich) as an architect, being elected as an associate of Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
in 1912. He then travelled in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Holland for a while, studying painting, and became a close friend of Frank Brangwyn
Frank Brangwyn
Sir Frank William Brangwyn RA RWS RBA was an Anglo-Welsh artist, painter, water colourist, virtuoso engraver and illustrator, and progressive designer.- Biography :...
, and also corresponded with Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
.
After service during the Great War he returned to Suffolk and seldom left it again. As an architect, he designed a series of innovative buildings, mainly large private dwellings, incorporating motifs from traditional Suffolk architecture in ways which were modern for their time. Most of these buildings are in the neighbourhood of Aldringham or Aldeburgh, including the house called Raidsend at Aldringham (an early work), a hall of late Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style, with 'elongated Dutch gables, tall narrow windows and subtle pargetting'. He was elected Fellow of the R.I.B.A. in 1925.
Cecil Lay died in 1956 and was buried near his parents in Aldringham churchyard.
Works
Lay's early prints show some debt to the manner of Aubrey BeardsleyAubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
, but during the 1920s and 1930s he developed a distinctively deco manner, producing a considerable series of oils depicting family groups or pairs of characteristic Suffolk vernacular types in a pseudo-naive style and in vibrant colour. In his watercolours, landscapes are populated in less formal, more relaxed ways.
Lay's volumes of poems appeared mainly between 1927 and 1934. They are mainly collections of short lyrics in new Elizabethan manner, sometimes erotic, and, although rural and showing a countryman's sensibilities, without sentimentalism or any strong note of nostalgia. Cecil Lay married Joan Chadburn, daughter of the painter Haworth Chadburn, in 1932. 'His origins, training and experience seem as if designed to produce that complex of rootedness and spiritual uprootedness that so often gives the artist's special oblique angle of view.' National Press opinions of his early verse comment on his Elizabethan frankness, simplicity, admirable lyrical impulse combined with tigerish intensity and focus, wit, beauty and blunt realism. His romantic sensibility was blended or moderated with classic restraint.
He was a friend of the Sieveking family and, although a project (by Martin Secker
Martin Secker
Martin Secker , born Percy Martin Secker Klingender, was a London publisher who was responsible for producing the work of a distinguished group of literary authors, including D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Norman Douglas, and Henry James...
) to publish his collected poems had foundered in 1937, the broadcaster Lance Sieveking
Lance Sieveking
Lance Sieveking was an English writer and pioneer BBC radio and television producer. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking and Fortean-writer Paul Sieveking .-Biography:...
in 1962 published a Collected Poems of Cecil Lay with his own Introduction, and an extended quotation from an earlier Introduction intended for the original Secker volume of 1937, written by A. E. Coppard
A. E. Coppard
Alfred Edgar Coppard was an English writer, noted for his influence on the short story form, and poet.-Life:He was born, the son of a tailor and a housemaid, in Folkestone, and had little formal education...
. Not only Coppard, but also Middleton Murry, Desmond MacCarthy
Desmond MacCarthy
Sir Desmond MacCarthy was a British literary critic and journalist.-Early life and education:MacCarthy was born in Plymouth, Devon, and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he got to know Lytton Strachey, Bertrand Russell and G. E...
and W. H. Davies
W. H. Davies
William Henry Davies or W. H. Davies was a Welsh poet and writer. Davies spent a significant part of his life as a tramp or vagabond in the United States and United Kingdom, but became known as one of the most popular poets of his time...
had been attracted to Lay's poetry, and Lance Sieveking emphasised the ways in which the poems resembled those of W. H. Davies.
Lay's tortoise
Over many years Cecil Lay made a very detailed study of the behaviour of his pet tortoiseTortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
, and discovered that it performed what was believed to be a ceremonial dance shortly after emerging from hibernation, following a set pattern of convoluted progress at considerable speed. He also observed that the animal preferred to eat a variety of different vegetation in rotation as the seasons passed, rather than adhering to a single preferred foodplant. These observations received scholarly attention.
Volumes of Poetry
- Sparrows and Other Poems (Fowler Wright, 1927)
- To Suffolk (separate, from the above) (Saint Catherine Press, London)
- Grotesques and Arabesques (Martin Secker, 1928)
- In and Out (?Martin Secker, 1930)
- Seven Poems (?Martin Secker, 1932)
- Eight Poems (W. H. Parkes, Leiston)
- April's Foal (Red Lion Press, London 1932)
- Ha and He (?Martin Secker, 1933)
- Samples (?Martin Secker, 1934)
- The Collected Poems of Cecil Lay (Introductions by A.E. Coppard and Lance Sieveking) (Benham 1962)
- An Adder in June, Selected poems (Introduction by Herbert Lomas) (Fry Gallery, Aldeburgh 1978)